Background: The purpose of the current study was to reveal how the scorpion venom of Androctonus crassicauda has a damaging effect on the vital and reproductive organs of the offspring and how specific antivenom administration reverses the damages that occur during intrauterine organogenesis.
Methods: Twelve pregnant Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned into two groups: antivenom (AVG) and control healthy (C) groups. For envenomization, a venom solution at the dose of 1 ml/kg body weight was injected subcutaneously into the AVG group of rats between days 7 and 13 of pregnancy. Then, antivenom serum was administered subcutaneously at a total sublethal dose of 1 ml daily. At the end of the 21st day of pregnancy, ovariohysterectomy was performed on all dams and all pups were removed. Six male and female pups from both the AVG and control groups were selected and. After histopathology, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), mitogen-activated protein (MAP), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12), and cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) expressions were evaluated.
Results: Based on the findings, it was shown that both genders exhibited increasing expressions parallel to histopathological changes, despite the stabile expressions of iNOS. However, CB1 expression in all examined organs including kidney, lung, uterus, and testicular tissues could not be adequately elevated to provide an effective cellular protection.
Conclusion: Functional reproductive organs have a greater capacity for self-pro-tection. It can be concluded that the efficacy of specific antivenom applications on the organ development of offspring following scorpion stings in pregnant subjects is significant.